Welcome to the Driving Change Network!
Welcome to the inaugural Earth Day issue of the HybridCenter's Driving Change Network (DCN) newsletter—your interactive source for clean vehicle information! This newsletter is an extension of the Union of Concerned Scientists's HybridCenter efforts to inform, encourage, and connect hybrid car owners and clean vehicle enthusiasts from across the country. Together, we will drive the advanced vehicle market in the cleanest, most efficient direction.
You're probably curious about the results of Bill Nye's Earth Day Challenge. The "bad" news is that, no, we haven't gotten to our goal of 1000 hybrid testimonials quite yet, but we're very pleased that in just a couple of months we went from 50 testimonials to nearly 500 on our "Who's Got Hybrids?" web feature. This has already transformed the HybridCenter into a genuine "one-stop-shop" for great technical, policy, and consumer information on hybrids.
Moreover, we have 4,222 members already signed up for the Driving Change Network, with over 1,940 hybrid owners. New members and testimonials continue to flow in, and we'll be constantly looking for new opportunities to grow. So remember to keep spreading the word about us to your friends.
I hope you enjoy our first edition of this monthly newsletter. I will also be sending periodic, targeted alerts with special actions and information. Remember, the Driving Change Network is for you, and I'll be constantly looking for ideas as to how I can make it better. Any suggestions, questions, or other feedback can be sent to me at hybridcenter@ucsusa.org.
Let's drive some change.
Scott Nathanson
UCS National Field Organizer &
HybridCenter.org Administrator
In this issue:
 As you might have noticed in our final Earth Day Challenge reminder, the HybridCenter was nominated in the best Guides/Ratings/Reviews categories for the 2006 Webby Awards, a very prestigious online award competition. Judges from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences will be awarding the Webby on May 9, but you also have a say for their popular vote People’s Voice Award. If you haven’t already, I’d sure appreciate your stopping by, registering, and voting for HybridCenter. If you have a little extra time, you can go here and actually write a review (hey, might help influence the judges, you never know?). Thanks everyone.
Not getting advertised fuel economy is a pretty common, and important, question that hybrid owners often have. Recently, one HybridCenter user emailed me to ask about her Escape Hybrid.
Q: Hi, I purchased a 2006 4-Wheel Drive Escape Hybrid about 3 weeks ago. I am only getting about 24-26 Miles Per Gallon.
About 99 percent of the driving I am doing is city driving. I drove on the highway once for only about 10 miles. I do not want to ask the dealer if something is wrong because I wouldn't know if he was telling me the truth if he said the SUV was fine.
Am I doing something wrong? Could there possibly be something wrong with this vehicle?
Thank you.
A: Hi there. I am a Gen. 2 Prius owner (different car, but similar technology) so I can tell you a couple of things that might help from my perspective. In addition, the HybridCenter.org has a number of testimonials from your fellow Escape owners so they are a valuable resource as well.
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Hybrid vehicles seem to need some time to "warm up." My Prius was only getting about 40 miles per gallon the first month I owned it. Then it steadily began to climb and in good weather I now get between 47-50 miles per gallon.
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Weather matters: I’m not sure where you live, but if you are in a colder climate, that does bring down the miles per gallon. As the weather warms, your mileage should climb. (As it turns out, the person with the question was in Chicago, and we all know what winters are like there?)
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Terrain matters: If you are in a hilly location, you won't get as good mileage as you will in a place that is more flat—just the laws of nature at work. (Remember though, you'd also be getting worse mileage in a conventional vehicle on a more hilly terrain.) I get around 48 miles per gallon in my Prius and I'm in a fairly hilly location. I know Prius owners in Arizona and Florida that are getting nearly 60 miles per gallon on average.
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates are high: Between the running of the air conditioning and the heat, higher highway speeds, and more powerful engines, it is unlikely (though not impossible) that you'll meet the EPA's estimates. Indeed, the EPA is revising their testing right now so in a couple of years they'll try to be more "real world accurate."
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Lastly, remember that at 24-26 miles per gallon, you're still getting among the highest fuel economy for any SUV on the market. So give you car and the weather a little more time to warm up, and please write us back with an update and testimonial for our “Who's Got Hybrids?” feature. Yours is just the kind of reaction and question we need to help consumers understand what this technology is doing (or not doing) in the real world.
Each month I will include a Member Q&A in the DCN newsletter, and I’ll be soliciting DCN member answers in future issues as well. Please submit your questions to hybridcenter@ucsusa.org.
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Camry Hybrid reviews, tax credit estimate up on HybridCenter: UCS Vehicles Analyst Don MacKenzie approved two solid reviews of the Camry Hybrid that you can find links to in the HybridCenter reviews section. Don also ran the numbers and estimates that the Camry Hybrid will get a $2,600 federal tax credit. Estimates for all other vehicles, including the new Lexus GS 450h sedan, can be found in the HybridCenter incentives section.
The estimated costs of oil dependence on the U.S. economy total seven trillion dollars over the past three decades—as much as we paid on the national debt during that period.
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GS 450h is a muscle hybrid, but Toyota planning on flexing even more in ’08: At 339 horse power and only a combined 26 miles per gallon (not even meeting the 27.5 miles per gallon Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) average), there is no doubt that Toyota’s Lexus brand hybrids are almost exclusively “muscle” hybrids. This is a shame as there is certainly room in the luxury market for a fully “tricked out” vehicle that still uses hybrid technology primarily as a fuel saver rather than to squeeze out a few more horses. Toyota’s next hybrid—the LS 600h L—due out in 2008, is going to sport an even more powerful V8 engine. Check out more on upcoming hybrids on our Hybrid Timeline.
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Generation 3 Prius to be Plugin?: On the more positive note, it looks like Toyota isn’t resting on its laurels on the world’s most popular hybrid—the Prius. Buried in an article in The Guardian about Toyota’s green vehicle plans is this small nugget, “[Shinichi Abe, head of Toyota’s hybrid division] said the next Prius model will be able to do a nine-mile commute to work without using any petrol or diesel.” You can read more about this and other stories in our Hybrid News section.
After reviewing hundreds of great “Who’s Got Hybrids?” pictures and testimonials, I thought it might be fun to showcase a few of the most memorable submissions in a Hybrid Owner of the Month feature. It’s my way of spotlighting members who really seem to share our community’s enthusiasm about hybrids and clean vehicle technology. To make it a bit more interesting, I’m asking you to vote for your favorite.
Just click on the links below to learn more about the nominees and send us your vote at hybridcenter@ucsusa.org (remember, just one vote per member, and you have to be a Driving Change Network member to vote). Not only will the hybrid owner with the most votes be featured in our next newsletter, but you’ll also win a free solar powered auto vent, great for keeping those air conditioning bills down during the coming summer months.
Here are the nominees:
 Michael Beres - Free Soil, MI
Honda Civic Hybrid Gen. 1
"I think hybrid drivers are more in touch with the elements, with physics, and with the world."
 Mike Cason - El Segundo, CA
Honda Civic Hybrid Gen. 1 & Toyota Prius Gen. 2
"One thing's for sure, once you try a hybrid, there's no going back."
 Gail Kapusnick - Bristow, VA
Mercury Mariner Hybrid
"I've had my Mercury Mariner Hybrid for a couple weeks now. It is fun to drive and handles really well. Getting 30mpg in an SUV is great too."
 Shannon Moore - San Antonio, TX
Ford Escape Hybrid
"My hybrid is fun to drive, in part because it's so quiet and in part because it's so clean and efficient."
 Ken Poleyeff - Mason, OH
Toyota Prius Gen. 2
"I've had my 2005 Prius for six months now, and I love it. I find it thoroughly amazing that they've got something that complex working so well!"
 Gayle Shisler - Doylestown, PA
Toyota Prius Gen. 1
"I absolutely ADORE my Prius! I had one of the first ones in my town back in 2001 and was (and still am) very excited to have a car that pollutes less and gives me such great gas mileage."
Be sure to submit your picture and testimonial in order to be in the running for future Hybrid Owner of the Month contests. You can also submit any updates to your picture and/or testimonial to hybridcenter@ucsusa.org.
P.S. For those of you who aren’t hybrid owners, or not up on our Who’s Got Hybrids? feature, don’t worry, I am going to have plenty of contests coming up that any DCN member can win!
One of the best ways that DCN members can help steer the course of the hybrid market is to use your experiences not only on HybridCenter, but with the greater public. There are articles almost every day in newspapers, on blogs, and elsewhere that are good fodder for Letters to the Editor.
I will be coming to you on a targeted basis with ideas and tips for writing your own letters to your local papers. For example, last week the New York Times ran an editorial that had some significant inaccuracies on the performance of the Prius. So I contacted DCN members in New York who are Gen. 2 Prius owners and asked them to respond.
Before I show you some of the great letters sent in by your fellow DCN members, I want to urge you to actively write Letters to the Editor, make comments on blogs, respond to online articles, etc. on your own as well. If possible, please Blind Carbon Copy (make sure you’re doing “BC” or “BCC” and not just “CC”) me on your letters. Please also, whenever topical, mention the HybridCenter.org as a resource for information about hybrid vehicles. And, if you do get your letter printed, please let me know. I’d love to share your success with the whole network!
Without further ado, here are the two letters DCN members sent in.
Letter from Dr. Ammiel Schwartz, Brewster, NY
With regard to the Toyota Prius: I drive a 2004 Prius and have 49,000 miles on it. In the winter in mixed local and highway driving I get about 46 MPG, in warm weather that is more like 48MPG. On longer trips at highway speeds 55 to 65 MPH, I routinely get better than 50MPG. I have been driving for 60 years and have owned every kind of American car as well as a Miata, Jaguar 150 MC, Honda Civic, and Camry.
The Prius is no sports car, nor a station wagon or a truck. It is a flexible sedan, doubling as a SUV at times to carry gardening supplies and equipment. It gives a comfortable ride even for long distances. It is by far the best all-around car I have ever owned. It is inconceivable that the staff at Automotive Magazine was driving the same car in any rational manner.
Letter from Andrea Raisfeld, Bedford, NY
Dear Editors: I am an extremely satisfied owner of a 2004 Toyota Prius. One of the things I remind people when they say they can get higher gas mileage with a smaller car is that I am a mother of three children, the owner of two dogs, an athlete who totes a bicycle around, and an occasional Costco shopper. My Prius is downright roomy AND unlike smaller cars with perhaps better gas mileage, it doesn't pollute the earth's atmosphere with poisonous emissions.
I bought a Prius because it is not only the best solution I can find to live my life without hastening the destruction of the planet, but to help encourage the market for hybrid vehicles, and to advertise this cool piece of technology to anyone who sees me drive by or sits in my passenger seat.
Have a wonderful Earth Day everyone, and look out for more Driving Change Network emails and alerts coming soon.
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